Kansas State University - Royal Purple Yearbook (Manhattan, KS)

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AS PREPARATION (or the Nov. S election, Joel Mease, Junior in political science, completes a voter registration form Oct. 12. ' I ' m here to help out Tom Hawk:Me:4m said. ' I helped him out earlier this summer and had a blast. ' The last day to register to vote for the election was Oct. 21.— Photo by Matt Elliott voter friendl candidate ' s attempts to educate students about voting have mixed response by Rachel Von Uhl MASSIVE, BRIGHTLY COLORED BILLBOARDS and signs decorated Manhattan lawns and store-fronts during the fall campaigning season. Even with their smiling faces and catchy slogans, candidates struggled to lure K-State students to voting booths. Tom Hawk, candidate for the Kansas House of Representatives, said running a political campaign involving students was part education, part entertainment and part persuasion. Hawk attempted to spark students ' interest in voting by passing out fliers, organizing a concert featuring local bands and helping college students register to vote. Students involved in Hawk ' s campaign set up a voter registration table and answered questions about voting and Hawk ' s campaign. I think students are confused because they don ' t know where to vote or if they can vote in this district, even if they aren ' t from Manhattan, Hawk said. Overall, students think they don ' t matter and their opinions aren ' t important. Falling in the lowest voting bracket, 32.3 percent of IS to 24-year-olds voted in the 2000 national election. I believe voting is very important, said Keisha Clark, junior in political science and psychology. People can ' t complain about the results of elections if they don ' t vote. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, college students continued to make up the largest age group of non-voters. You can ' t force it (voting) on college students, Spencer Stelljes, senior in political science, said. Everyone has their own opinions about voting. For some students, platform issues, such as taxes and social security, weren ' t of much interest. Most students are still dependents, Stelljes said. We don ' t necessarily see anything coming back to us. For a majority of students, voting was not a top priority on Nov. 5. 1 don ' t think my vote matters in the election, Liz Van Zant, freshman in business administration, said. Politics confuse me, so I don ' t take much interest in them. In an effort to get more students to vote, the Student Government Association hosted Cat ' s Challenge, a competition against the University of Kansas. The goal of thecompetition was to get the most students and residents to vote during their respective football games Oct. 12. Once the results were tallied, the losing school ' s SGA members had to wear the opposing school ' s colors at the Nov. 2 K-State vs. KU football game. College students have valuable opinions they should share by voting and getting involved in political campaigns, Hawk said. Young people have faith and confidence in the future, Hawk said. They should be taken seriously. 26 I Student Life

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numberssoar more seniors create larger classes, longer ceremony In le Wi lines WITH 655 GRADUATES, the College of Arts and Sciences boasted its largest class in K-State history. Stephen White, interim dean of the col , said 270 more students received their diploma in May 2002 than 2001. A rise in the number of students invariably put pressure on seniors to enroll in all of the required courses. White said transfer students and underclassmen often had trouble fitting in prerequisite courses because seniors were still signed up for them. Classes are to be capped at around 30 students, depending on the class, White said. Most of the time, however, professors allow about a half dozen more to enroll in their classes to help the students out with graduating on time. According to the Office of the Registrar, the Department of Biology and the A.Q. Miller School of Journalism and Mass Communications have been the two largest departments in the College of Arts and Sciences in recent years. Because of the requirement of taking a life science in the College of Arts and Sciences, there have been some increases in the size of the class. Pat Hook, biology instructor, said. The students aren ' t necessarily the ones who have a problem with the class size, though. Often parents are more concerned than the kids are. Pat Bosco, dean of student life, said as long as freshmen and transfer students continue enrolling, there would be growth in the number of graduates. To accommodate those numbers, the university featured six graduation ceremonies in addition to the College of Arts and Sciences. It is important that K•State continue to emphasize classy graduation programs because it ' s a tremendous achievement to finish at our school? Bosco said. The graduates do not do it alone. Parents, friends, family, spouses, children, grandparents and so many others, including many members of the K-State family, have helped. Graduation I 25

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STANDING OUTSIDE KSU Stadium, Julie Tharp, senior in secondary education, registers to vote with Student Govern- ment Association member Laurie Osage, senior in sociology, before the K•State versus Oklahoma State game OM. 12. Members of SGA were at the stadium, as well as Varney ' s, registering students to vote In the Nov. S election. — Photo by Karen Mikols ATI I TING 1111 PEON Tom Hawk, candidate for the Kansas House of Rep- resentatives, talks to Blair Reynolds, sophomore in political science, about his political campaign. Hawk hosted a concert Sept. 6 at CiCo Park to help Inform people about voting. — Photo by Jenny Braniff Student Voting 27